<p id="thickbox_headline">The person observed crossing the heavily fortified border from South Korea into North Korea last week is presumed to be a North Korean who had previously defected to the South, <em>Yonhap </em>news agency reported on Monday, citing Seoul's defence ministry.</p>.<p>South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it carried out a search operation after detecting the person on Saturday on the eastern side of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.</p>.<p>"The authorities presume the person is a North Korean defector and are in the process of verifying related facts," the ministry said, according to Yonhap.</p>.<p>The defector is suspected of being a man who used his experience as a gymnast to cross border fences and defect to the South across the DMZ in the same area in 2020, Yonhap said, without identifying him.</p>.<p>The border crossing, which is illegal in South Korea, came as North Korea carries out strict anti-coronavirus measures since shutting borders in early 2020, though it has not confirmed any infections.</p>.<p>While thousands of North Koreans have settled in the South, crossings of the DMZ are rare, with most defectors making their way through China.</p>.<p>Defections from South to North across the DMZ are rarer still, with just a handful recorded in recent years.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH videos:</strong></p>
<p id="thickbox_headline">The person observed crossing the heavily fortified border from South Korea into North Korea last week is presumed to be a North Korean who had previously defected to the South, <em>Yonhap </em>news agency reported on Monday, citing Seoul's defence ministry.</p>.<p>South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it carried out a search operation after detecting the person on Saturday on the eastern side of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.</p>.<p>"The authorities presume the person is a North Korean defector and are in the process of verifying related facts," the ministry said, according to Yonhap.</p>.<p>The defector is suspected of being a man who used his experience as a gymnast to cross border fences and defect to the South across the DMZ in the same area in 2020, Yonhap said, without identifying him.</p>.<p>The border crossing, which is illegal in South Korea, came as North Korea carries out strict anti-coronavirus measures since shutting borders in early 2020, though it has not confirmed any infections.</p>.<p>While thousands of North Koreans have settled in the South, crossings of the DMZ are rare, with most defectors making their way through China.</p>.<p>Defections from South to North across the DMZ are rarer still, with just a handful recorded in recent years.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH videos:</strong></p>